ARTICLES ABOUT NATURAL RESOURCES POLICE BY DATE - PAGE 4

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating whether the body of a man that washed up against a homeowner's pier in southern Anne Arundel County on Thursday is that of a crew member who went missing from a commercial container ship late last year. Officials with the state's Department of Natural Resources Police alerted the Coast Guard of the body, which was found in Deale, about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Peter Francisco, a Coast Guard marine investigator. "Whenever there is a body recovered, that's cross-referenced against all missing people that the Coast Guard has searches for," Francisco said.

Two people died and four were rescued in a boating accident on the Chesapeake Bay Saturday when their 25-foot boat capsized two miles south of Point Lookout State Park in St. Mary's County, according to Department of Natural Resources Police. Sgt. Brian Albert, a spokesman for the DNR police, said authorities were still on the scene and were trying to recover the boat. The victims were identified as two Lexington Park, Md., men - David Chase, 55, and David Fletcher, 43. "We think that the accident was due to rough seas, but we're not positive," Albert said.

Maryland State Police and sheriff's deputies in Queen Anne's County are investigating what they call the "suspicious disappearance" of a woman who they say has been missing for two days, and a dive team will search part of the Chesapeake Bay today. The woman is identified as Robin L. Pope, 51, of Stevensville. She is described as a white female, 5'4", 105 pounds, with brown hair. Police said that until December 2012, Pope had been residing with her husband, Wayne A. Pope Jr., in Stevensville.

The first week of the state's two-week firearm season for hunting deers has produced fewer deer taken and at least one hunter seriously injured. According to Brian Eyler, Deer Project Leader for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, colder than normal temperatures and windy conditions, as well an abundance of acorns, led to a 10 percent drop in the number of deer taken compared to last year. There were 15,829 whitetails taken compared to 17,613 last year. Of the whitetails taken, 6,759 were antlered and 9,070 were without antlers.

With an increase in the number of permits given out and a record number of bears killed during last month's five-day Maryland black bear hunt came another high mark - arrests made for illegal baiting and other violations. According to the Natural Resources Police, 22 hunters were arrested. While it represented more than five times the number of hunters arrested last year (four) and double the number from 2010, it is only 2.5 percent of the number of hunters who were either issued permits or had sub-permits.

The eve of the next General Assembly session will arrive before authorities complete an investigation into Del. Don Dwyer, who admitted he was drunk while piloting a speed boat in a collision that seriously injured six people this past summer. Authorities said Tuesday that witness interviews and toxicology screens are still incomplete as investigators probe the two-vessel crash that sent four children, Dwyer and another adult to the hospital after an Aug. 22 accident on the Magothy River.

A second month will pass before authorities complete the inquiry into the boat collision involving an admittedly drunken state delegate and a vessel carrying children. "Charges will definitely be filed," Sgt. Brian Albert, spokesman for Natural Resources Police, said Tuesday. "First, we have to determine who was the at-fault vessel. " Del. Donald H. Dwyer admitted the day after the Aug. 22 crash that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.2 percent after his boat, The Legislator, collided with another boat carrying two adults and five children on the Magothy River.

WEATHER The National Weather Service is calling for Wednesday to be cloudy, with a high near 87 and southwest winds around 8 miles per hour. There is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Wednesday night is expected to be mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. TRAFFIC Check our traffic updates for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM LAST NIGHT Search continues for missing boater in Arundel : Rescue workers planned to continue searching waters near Gibson Island on Wednesday for a missing man who was tossed from a boat in the area during a squall Monday, according to a Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police spokesman.

Tea Party leader Del. Neil Parrott offered fresh details about the boating collision that put six people in the hospital and is threatening to end the political career of Del. Don Dwyer, who was drunkenly at the helm. Parrott said that Dwyer's boat was "struck" by another other vessel. "Don assured me that he did everything he could do to avoid the collision," Parrott wrote in an email to his colleagues in the General Assembly. "Don indicated that he had been drinking, however, at this point it is unclear whether he alcohol had anything to do with the accident," Parrott wrote.